Tertiary Education Funding to be SEVERELY cut???

[AbstractPoetic]

I thought GATE was being expanded? At least that is what the PP purported on their platform.... ?

[AbstractPoetic]

BUMP!!

Heard it on the News just now.. It's official


We time ftl

Which news source?

[nervewrecker]

more info please.....

[zcarz]

allyuh hear bout the 'word on the street'?

[Trini Hookah]

allyuh hear bout the 'word on the street'?

is vagrantsusingnailpolishaslipstick time now...

[hustla_ambition101]

somebody insert a video of family guy cover of surfin bird nah

[Trini Hookah]

somebody insert a video of family guy cover of surfin bird nah

[Skanky]

Excellent move.

Govt was wasting ALOT of money behind people who don't deserve to be there.

Agreed.

There should be incentives though.
At BSc level; first class: gov't refunds 100% of the money you paid,upper second: 80%,everything else 0%.
If we stop rewarding mediocrity in this country we can go far as a people.

[Sequel]

Excellent move.

Govt was wasting ALOT of money behind people who don't deserve to be there.

Agreed.

There should be incentives though.
At BSc level; first class: gov't refunds 100% of the money you paid,upper second: 80%,everything else 0%.
If we stop rewarding mediocrity in this country we can go far as a people.

good plan

[Victory_Specification]

Good move. As iterated above, while there are actually some people that do deserve these grants, the overwhelming majority don't. What gives me the right to say that? I am currently at the tertiary level and are surrounded by people who simply view university as 'a lime', or a means to finally leave under their parents' roof and experience real freedom. With the inception of gate, the need to work hard to study at a university dissolved.

Personally, I think they should do away with it all together and just increase the number of scholarships available-at least our money would be spent on brains, rather than baboons.

[hustla_ambition101]

GATE+CAPE=WOFT

[crazychinee]

Personally, I think they should do away with it all together and just increase the number of scholarships available-at least our money would be spent on brains, rather than baboons.

They should have increased the amt of aide given out, and only give free education to students after they submitted financials from their parents, had interviews etc.
Subsidize what parents cannot pay, donot give it all away for free.
More free scholarships? Every cyat and dey uncle on 'schol' now, its a joke.

What about the free SGU funding? that gone?

[KURMAman]

Excellent move.

Govt was wasting ALOT of money behind people who don't deserve to be there.

Agreed.

There should be incentives though.
At BSc level; first class: gov't refunds 100% of the money you paid,upper second: 80%,everything else 0%.
If we stop rewarding mediocrity in this country we can go far as a people.

good plan

x1000.
As for AbstraticPoetdrainwater....
not everyone has the luxury of "just not going UWI and going foreign instead."..it really do have needy ppl who excel in school, and dese schols are very important and life changing....so u sitting there and saying those remarks really shows how feeble minded u are..
When i was in uwi in 2002, we waited in long lines to register...paid full fees and knew the importance of passing exams...that alone is a big eye opener...and dat encourages ppl to try harder...GPA avg is sheit tho....the old grading system was alot more stringent for passing coursework/labs and overall semester exams...

[AllTrac]

Good move. As iterated above, while there are actually some people that do deserve these grants, the overwhelming majority don't. What gives me the right to say that? I am currently at the tertiary level and are surrounded by people who simply view university as 'a lime', or a means to finally leave under their parents' roof and experience real freedom. With the inception of gate, the need to work hard to study at a university dissolved.

Personally, I think they should do away with it all together and just increase the number of scholarships available-at least our money would be spent on brains, rather than baboons.

oh no you didnt!!

[mango_chow]

That real surprise me when the previous govt was funding students @ SGU too...

Realistically speaking, the govt cannot afford to continue GATE like this. Too many people use, misuse and abuse the system and see University as an opportunity to lime and drink.

Maybe a good solution would be to re-introduce the dollar for dollar scheme.

[dok_tec]

i would admit uwi has turned into an out of control social scene, local gossip girl kind of school (well at least st augustine campus at least) but i know alot of people who otherwise would not be able to attend university who take full advantage of the situation.
I have friends who travel from enterprise everyday taking the bus studying all the way up and back home ,normally they would not have been able to attend university as they come from very poor family's but in a matter of years they will be able to bring their family's out of poverty so there is the good in it right there BUT thats just one scenario
Increase the standard to attend uwi , monitor performance strictly maybe even set up a department for it , honestly in the st augustine campus courses are made way to easy ... you can spread courses over years and take as long as you want to finish a degree i know someone who took 6 years to do maths

[nervewrecker]

6 years to do maths? It have a tuner that .... *is hit with a sundown amplifier*

[janfar]

TERTIARY Education Minister Fazal Karim has cautioned that students who do not take their studies seriously will not benefit from taxpayers' dollars spent on the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme.

"If you sign up for a course of study paid for by the taxpayer, then you have to commit to study diligently. GATE cannot and will not be called upon to pay if you fail courses repeatedly and refuse to commit to serious studies," he said.

Karim was speaking yesterday at a New Student Orientation and Parents' Forum held by the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT) at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya.

He reiterated that, despite rumours, the Government was "uncompromisingly committed to securing and expanding GATE and making its benefits available to a wider cross section of citizens".

Karim reminded students that if there was a requirement to "serve the people" in the GATE contract—there is a clause that recipients have to work in the country for a specified period of time—then they must see it as their duty to do so.

He said GATE will be secured and enhanced with monitoring, compliance and audit mechanisms, and by ensuring that all tertiary institutions are fully accredited by the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT).

"We cannot afford to have fly-by-night institutions who fly in and fly out with the profits from Trinidad and Tobago," he said.

Karim pointed out that a significant part of the US$2 billion spent on GATE was for students studying mainly academic subjects, and some of these bore little relevance to this country's manpower needs.

"So while we spend billions on tertiary education...we still had to import doctors, nurses and health care professionals from Cuba, Philippines and elsewhere, and construction workers from China and Malaysia," he said

He said GATE will be more closely aligned to the manpower needs of the country and expanded to include technical and vocational areas.

COSTAATT lecturer Roddy Batchasingh told about 2,500 new students that when he graduated from the University of the West Indies in 2002 he had to pay $45,000 in fees, while almost all the incoming students present were receiving GATE assistance.

"I'm glad you all have the opportunity to benefit from GATE and to not leave school in debt. However all of you must do your best to live up to the faith the nation has placed in you," he said.

GATE was introduced in September 2004 and replaced the Dollar for Dollar Education Plan.

Karim noted that his Ministry will also be paying attention to the transport needs of students, especially those from deep South and Eastern parts of the country who have to access tertiary education mainly in North Trinidad.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Kar ... 56784.html

[Swisha]

Economist slams Gate abuse
...students who fail should repay tuition


Shaliza Hassanali
Published: 29 Aug 2010
Shaliza Hassanali


Economist Indera Sagewan-Alli is urging the People’s Partnership Government to institute stringent conditionalities in the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (Gate) programme in the upcoming budget. She described it as a runaway horse. Sagewan-Alli said this was one area Finance Minister Winston Dookeran should carefully examine before he presents the September 8 fiscal package, pointing out that tertiary level students were failing and repeating courses “and there is nothing in place to say if you fail you have to repay the money.”

The streamlining of Gate was just one of the ways, Sagewan-Alli said, Government could save money if conditionalities are put in place for students. “I would streamline Gate in terms of how much I make it available to people and attach conditionalities in terms of success to its being available.” Once this is done, Sagewan-Alli said, students will buckle down and aim at passing exams. “The Government should not settle for mediocrity. To not pass without good reason would mean you have to pay for your course.”

Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education Fazal Karim issued a warning to students recently that Gate cannot and will not be called upon to pay if they fail their courses repeatedly and refuse to commit to serious studies. Sagewan-Alli said implementing conditionalities will cut all the abuse. “If you speak to any educator they will tell you that Gate has been badly abused.” Sagewan-Alli said expanding Gate would be one of the biggest challenges for Dookeran as Government tries to reduce its spending to balance this year’s deficit budget.

http://guardian.co.tt/news/general/2010 ... gate-abuse

[Aaron 2NR]

^ the program should have been set up like the dollar for dollar with an assessment at the end of each semester or academic year, once you meet the requirements (grades) you get reimbursed......

[Strauss]

Man if cutting education expenditure means we have less of RASC-typle people, I'm all for it
Cuz if RASC is what smart supposed to be. I wanna stay dumb.

[sharkmouth]

oh well....no loss for me yes..my parents worked hard and payed for me to go to university....

Look like he became a genius in university

[shaneelal]

Excellent move.

Govt was wasting ALOT of money behind people who don't deserve to be there.

Agreed.

There should be incentives though.
At BSc level; first class: gov't refunds 100% of the money you paid,upper second: 80%,everything else 0%.
If we stop rewarding mediocrity in this country we can go far as a people.

I agree with you on this, the gov't should also put in place easily accessible low interest loans for those who can't pay the fees but have the knowledge and will to succeed. To add to that, if you fail two courses in the first year you have to stop and pay back the loan before you move on.

[civicman]

So this dead now and the
author look like ah C*@t now?

[civic minded]

Education
Mr. Speaker, tertiary education is a major driver of economic competitiveness in an
increasingly knowledge driven global economy.
We will continue the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme. It
will be expanded to include vocational training, strengthened and made sustainable to increase
the participation rate in higher education to 60 percent. In addition, to avoid and stop the abuse
of GATE, we will strictly enforce existing measures.
22
To sustain, in the long run, the opportunity for every child to have access to higher education,
the Government is examining at proposal to set up a children’s educational plan modelled in
accordance with proven international standards.
We will restructure the On the Job Training (OJT) programme to expand private sector
placement. We will also re-evaluate technical vocational programmes such as the ‘Multi-
Sector Skills Training Programme’ and the ‘Helping Youth Prepare for Employment’ programme
to ensure that they achieve their objectives.

Excerpt from the Budget Speech 2010

[civic minded]

seriously RASC - where do you get your information from?? a raving lunatic hold more credibility than you right now.

[AllTrac]

could someone please check on RASC? its like the 3rd time for the year, first General, then local, now budget, i mean the guy must be suicidal by now. Im serious.

[*$kїđž!™]

RASC boy----Time to give it a rest.......Go check Manning or something....

[AllTrac]

anyone have de video of de PNM lady who was crying after elections saying that she children would have to pay to go to school now and GATE done?

[Aaron 2NR]

pwned again yes...